By Martin Banks

The proposed EU budget for 2028-2034 risks “weakening” Europe’s territories and undermining the Union’s cohesion, resilience and competitiveness, it has been claimed.

The next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). Negotiations took centrestage at  a meeting of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) Political Bureau.

Co-legislators are calling for “significant clarifications” to the European Commission’s proposals.

The proposed reforms are said to affect fundamental aspects of the EU budget, including its objectives, governance, and overall policy architecture, setting the stage for complex and far-reaching negotiations.

The CPMR, at its meeting, expressed “serious concerns that the proposals recentralise decision-making, weaken Cohesion Policy, and reduce the ability of regions to deliver strategic investments on the ground.”

At the meeting in Nicosia, regional leaders from Europe’s peripheral and maritime regions delivered what they call a clear and unequivocal message to the European Institutions: “We will not accept the budget proposal as it currently stands.”

Filip Reinhag, President of the CPMR and Regional Councillor at Region Gotland, said, “As Regional Authorities, we cannot accept a future EU budget that weakens regional capacity to invest, innovate and deliver for citizens. Europe needs strong regions, fully involved in governance, not sidelined by over-centralised mechanisms.

 “We must prevent any dilution of Cohesion Policy, preserve our key role in governance, and ensure that every region can get the resources it needs to thrive”.

 Among CPMR’s red lines are the proposed National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPP) that, it is claimed, “risk sidelining regions and ignoring Europe’s territorial diversity.”

Their allocation methodology fails to address regional disparities and specificities, and “risks neglecting” the needs of Outermost Regions or Northern Sparsely Populated Areas, says the CPMR.

 While the introduction of a “regional check” amendment in November 2025 represents a step in the right direction, the CPMR considers that it remains insufficient to fully address the territorial shortcomings of the proposal.

A CPMR statement said, “At a time of geopolitical instability, accelerating climate impacts, economic transformation, and growing social pressures, Regions recall that they are not passive observers but Europe’s first line of response and resilience.

“They are laboratories of innovation and competitiveness, guardians of social cohesion and democratic legitimacy.”

Representing the Cyprus EU presidency, Constantinos Ioannou, Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Cyprus, emphasised the strategic importance of the negotiations ahead, noting that the MFF must equip the Union to address today’s security, economic, and geopolitical challenges.

The Cyprus Presidency is expected to play a decisive role in advancing negotiations and shaping the framework for agreement among Member States.

Davide Strangis, Secretary General of the CPMR concluded: “This is a defining moment for Europe’s future. Beyond setting clear red lines, the CPMR is putting forward concrete amendments and governance solutions to ensure that the next EU budget strengthens, rather than weakens, regional capacity to invest and deliver.

“We will remain fully engaged throughout the negotiations to make sure the final MFF reflects Europe’s territorial diversity and long-term ambition”.